At least five people were killed on Tuesday after violent clashes broke out between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northern city of Aleppo, with both sides accusing the other of triggering the fighting.
The unrest comes amid stalled efforts to implement a March agreement aimed at integrating the Kurds’ semi-autonomous civilian administration and military forces into Syria’s new government. Tensions have periodically flared since then, particularly in Aleppo, home to two predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods.
According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, the SDF shelled areas near the Shihan roundabout, killing one member of the Ministry of Defense.
In a subsequent report, SANA said three civilians—including two women—were killed when SDF fire struck residential buildings in the Al-Midan neighborhood of Aleppo.
The SDF disputed the account. In a statement released earlier, the group said factions affiliated with the Syrian army targeted the Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood using a reconnaissance drone, killing one resident and wounding two others.
Sheikh Maqsoud and the neighboring Ashrafiyeh district remain under the control of Kurdish forces linked to the SDF, despite an April agreement in which Kurdish fighters pledged to withdraw from the areas.
In a separate incident, the SDF accused pro-government factions of attacking the town of Deir Hafer, approximately 50 kilometers east of Aleppo and near the strategically significant Tishreen Dam to the city’s northeast. The Kurdish-led force said it reserves the right to “respond legitimately” to such attacks.
The SDF controls vast portions of Syria’s oil-rich north and northeast and, with backing from a U.S.-led international coalition, played a key role in the territorial defeat of the Islamic State group in 2019.
However, integrating the force into the Syrian state following the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad a year ago has proven complex. The original March agreement was expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2025.
On Sunday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi held further talks with officials in Damascus on the integration process, but state media reported that no concrete progress was achieved. Kurdish leaders continue to call for decentralization, a demand firmly rejected by Syria’s new Islamist-led authorities.
Last month, similar clashes in Aleppo left five people dead, following remarks by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan—whose country is a key ally of Syria’s new leadership—urging the SDF during a visit to Damascus not to obstruct Syria’s stability.
